Day three of teaching and we can tentatively say we are falling into some kind of routine and settling in… almost too much because we seem to keep waking up later and later every morning (due to exhaustion, not wild partying, believe me) and rushing to get into our tuk-tuks for an 8.30am start.
En route to teaching the street children we spotted our first fat Cambodian which was a cause for celebration. We decided to call him Ralph – just as a point of reference.
We stopped at a large store to buy some extra supplies for the lessons we have planned for the coming days and on we went chugging along whilst insane traffic zoomed passed from all directions.
Allow me to digress a little bit as I describe the traffic situation in down town Phnom Penh. There are NO rules – people zip past you on either side and in any direction, sometimes with up to 5 people on one 100cc bike. The motorcycle here is a source of survival. Everyone has one and they use it for anything. Yesterday I actually saw a live pig strapped to the back of a Yamaha, to say nothing of the coconuts, bananas, garbage, ladders, old ladies, orange clad monks and breast-feeding mums. Our own tuk-tuks blithely made a U-turn without warning and in tandem, which had us simultaneously peeing in our pants: Imagine doing a U-turn in the middle of Aldo Moro Street in Marsa at 8 in the morning… with ten times the traffic.
When we finally arrived at LRDE we found the children eagerly awaiting us. They are now quite familiar with us too… and some of the older ones have taken to calling me Helen O’Granny or Alan O’Grady – but that’s ok because I make a mess of their names all the time too. Although we recognize all of the regulars, there are always a few new faces to get to know - after all there are over 250 children on the restaurant’s roster, and I think we see around 50 or 60 each morning.
Once we’ve settled in and put our teaching tools and personal belongings away, we turn into human jungle gyms as each of us has to contend with one, two or even three of the more athletic kids climbing all over us. Being the tallest one, I’m the bigger challenge - a sort of Kilimontanaro - and I feel I have to mention one young boy named Sureap who always takes this flying dive at me from behind, but it was only when he wrapped his legs around my waist that I noticed the gaping wounds on his filthy knees and feet.
We immediately set about cleaning them and applying antiseptic cream on the open sores though I’m not sure whether this will make much of a difference seeing how he will be returning to the sludge of the slums where he lives with his extended family.
The director of LRDE today confirmed what we already suspected: that what we are doing is useful. The time the kids spend at LRDE is the only time they have to actually be children and the laughs that we have is proof positive that we are doing something right.
Our afternoon was spent as usual with the children at the orphanage, SFODA, and again here we are making fast friends with the children who are eager, alert and remarkably clever. I am extremely proud to announce that with this group of children we manage to go through the Helen O’Grady curriculum as intended with little, if any, adaptations. They are wonderful children and I can’t wait for tomorrow’s class because I have a couple of surprises in store for them...
Before I close this instalment I would like, on behalf of all of us here, to wish team member and teacher extraordinaire, Katherine Brown, a very happy birthday. The children sang happy birthday to her which sounded a little bit like “heepy berrday up yoo” which was funny. We surprised her later on in the evening by going for a meal at Romdeng which is a stunning training restaurant for former street youths – and it is here, dear readers, that we feasted on deep fried tarantulas in a spicy peppered sauce and stir fried red ants in spices. This is not a joke.
Until tomorrow…
Alan and the team